I Saw the Devil (2010)

March 18, 2016 7:53 AM

A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.

Not precisely a horror film, this bloody Korean revenge thriller is emphatically not for everyone. Bad things happen. Nightmare things. Still, mostly critics liked it. It amassed an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

This film is a selection of MeFi Horror Club. Want to make a pick? Anyone can. More info here.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

I picked this because I've been intending to watch it for a while and I saw it was on Netflix. Plus, it had good reviews.

But criminy, I fucking hated this movie. Bloody and grim and joyless. The degree to which on-screen violence was shown--particularly against women--was stomach-turning. I sort of hoped it would be more about the cat and mouse aspect, I guess.

Choi Min-sik was compelling, eve with the vicious material.

But honestly, I hated the shit out of this. Blown call on my part, as far as I'm concerned.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:27 PM on March 19, 2016

Don't get m wrong: I can actually stomach ultraviolence. I was actually sot of hoping this would fill the niche left open by the delayed premiere of this season of Banshee. That is, I wanted to see some people who desperately had it coming get their asses kicked soundly. But there is a leering quality to the violence in this I couldn't get behind. And as solid as Choi Min-sik was, the script never let him have much of a sympathetic moment (unless you count the over-the-top bit at the very end where his family inadvertently launches the guillotine).

Don't get me wrong... I am not asking for a likable serial killer. But the better written ones are usually so formidable or smart in their way that they feel evenly matched. This guy not so much.

I really wanted to see two advanced minds going after each other. This is more like sick fuck vs. guy so hellbent on revenge he's becoming a sick fuck.

Probably there is a solid argument to be made that this was good on its own terms. It just wasn't what I was hoping for at all.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:41 PM on March 19, 2016

I hated this also. This was basically just torture porn disguised as something more substantive. So much wasted talent.
posted by cazoo at 10:30 PM on October 25, 2019

I saw this yesterday and was enthralled by it. Too much edging toward torture porn I agree. The women just weren't a factor except as props. That said the interplay between the agent and the killer was what I liked.
posted by biggreenplant at 10:17 AM on March 24, 2021